Read by Paul Heitsch

Jacob Elliot doesn't want a temporary job in the mailroom at Delphi Enterprises, but after two post-college years of unpaid internships and living in his parents' basement, he needs the work. Then, on his first day, the unthinkable happens: toxic gas descends on a meeting in Delphi's outdoor amphitheater, killing all the regular employees and leaving Jacob stranded inside the vast office complex. Wandering through Delphi headquarters, Jacob finds other survivors: Lauren, a disillusioned classics major who's now writing online personality quizzes; Swati, a fitness instructor trying to escape a toxic relationship; and Dominic, a business-school student, who will do almost anything to get ahead. Stranded in the wreckage of the company that employed them, the temps band together to create a miniature world that's part spring break, part office culture, until a shocking discovery disrupts the survivors' self-made paradise and drives them to uncover the truth about the mysterious corporation that employed them and the apocalypse that brought their world to an end. A surprising, profound tribute to the absurdities and paranoia of modern life, The Temps is an epic exploration of survival and human connection in the digital age

Mode of access: World Wide Web